Down on the homestead - Oct. 16 - Oct 23

**forestdale** · 10-16-2005, 03:43 PM

Good morning homesteaders. Another new week in the downhill run towards Christmas.

I still haven't painted my kitchen table and I'm hoping to do it today. My son is coming over for lunch and I also want to do some writing.

We've had a wet weekend.

I haven't looked at the rain guage yet but I'm guessing we've had around 3-4 inches. I'll put some mulch on my tomatoes later. It will kept the moisture in and help save more water.

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend.

**PrairieRose** · 10-16-2005, 04:32 PM

Hello Rhonda and all other homesteaders

We've had a nice weekend here on our place. Dd#2 came home for a quick visit, which was very nice. We had a good visit and lovely meal so that was wonderful. I cleaned yesterday morning (my back was much better, until I cleaned and it's still better than it was, but sooo stiff now) and then spent the rest of the day with Gripey and dd. We had brunch this morning before she went home and have spent the rest of the day doing a whole lot of nothing....been reading here and surfing while Gripey watched the Cowboys.
Tomorrow I'll do a small bit of cleaning and then I'm off to work on that bedroom suit again. I'm ready to get that thing painted and moved in.

I hope you get that kitchen table painted Rhonda

Hope it was a great weekend for everyone.

**psjkmom** · 10-16-2005, 04:45 PM

Yay Rhonda! Rain rain, don't go away! la la la.
We've had a nice weekend. Our Harvest festival at school was a success last night. My boys had a blast. Oldest ds brought a buddy from church with him and then his friend spent the night with us. That's our first official sleep-over. One of many to come I'm sure. He was such a sweet little boy. He is always kind to my oldest ds AND he was kind to the little brothers too.

We've been to church. I've been cutting out and organizing General Mills box tops for our school. GM gives us 10 cents for every box top coupon, so it's a good fund-raiser. The boys have choir practise tonight and dd and I will take a walk. Hope everyone's week starts off well.

**baxjul** · 10-16-2005, 08:35 PM

Good evening!

Please say a prayer for me dear dad, he is have carotid artery surgery tomorrow morning. I'm so upset that I am so far away! My sister will call me with the detail of how it went tomorow night.

DD is having a fit right now, because she doesn't want to go to bed. Crying and such. She never has done this before, I don't know why she is starting to do this now.

I'll check in tomorrow!

**homesteadmamma** · 10-17-2005, 11:08 AM

Good morning everyone. Had a lot of catching up to do when I came on this morning.

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night I took all 3 kids to the musical Clowns. For a small community, it was really done well. Michael was on his best behavior which made the evening so pleasant.

Sat. between loads of laundry I quilted and that was for most of the day.

Sun. I quilted until noon, then we headed into the city. This scatterbrain of mine forgot the check so we had to come all the way back home and then head out again. We decided instead to hit a small town we haven't been to in quite some time. The have the same bank we deal at there. While there, we ended up going out for supper which was really nice, however it will mess up my budget a bit. Life is short though so we made the most of it and enjoyed it.

Today I have to:

~get the kids school started
~have a noon luncheon with the Red Hat Society
~organize the kitchen a bit
~clean the post office
~do some quilting

Hope everyone has a nice Monday.

**QuilterMom** · 10-17-2005, 11:47 AM

Dh is back at work today and ds is sad. He told dh several times last week how much he liked having him here during the day.

We had a pretty good week, but it ended on a sour note. We'd gotten everything set up at the dr.'s office last Wed. for my c/s and found someone to be with ds during the surgery and stay with him at night while I'm in the hospital (that has been a major up and down emotional roller coaster of an ordeal for us for probably the last 3 months). We were so happy to have it resolved, have a definite date for the surgery set, I signed all the official paperwork, etc. that I felt peace like I haven't felt in a very long time. On Friday I got a phone call from the dr.'s office mgr. letting me know the hospital is once again on the fence as to whether or not they will allow surgeries to be scheduled for the day mine has been set up (as of last Wed. they were allowing them, as of Friday they didn't know) AND my dr. has decided to take the rest of the week off (so all the dates he gave us to choose from for my c/s are no longer valid). It's looking like now my c/s will be 8 days later than we anticipated and I am not a happy camper and neither is dh, but there is nothing we can do about it - our hands are tied. I can't take the emotional ups and downs anymore. My dr. also made some comments to his office mgr. (someone we know so she told me) that he has never said to me or dh so now we're very upset about that as well. The office mgr. was supposed to have a meeting with the hospital this morning at 8am to get a definite answer as to when my surgery will be, but so far I have not heard anything from her. If it does get changed to a different date we are once again up the creek without a paddle as far as having no one to be with ds during my surgery (so in other words I'm all alone and dh misses the birth of his child) and we have no one to keep ds at night so I'm in the hospital alone at the mercy of the nurses (I am very unhappy about that).

Ok, off that rant. Sorry!

Dh did start on the kitchen remodel and got 4 of the upper cabinets hung on one side of the kitchen. He could have gotten more done, but when he was tearing out cabinets he discovered that when the house was built the wire for the stove was put in the wrong location. As a result a screw had been going right through the wire ever since 1981! It's a great wonder the stove had never shorted out/blown up. Ugh! Thankfully we were able to get the electrician he knows over here yesterday and get the wire completely replaced. The old one was aluminum and he said it would be much better to go with copper (he told us copper is a much better conductor of heat and would save us money on our electric bills - that's all I needed to hear!). Dh had a lot of drywall repair to do so he was able to finish that up yesterday and now he'll be able to move on to the rest of the upper cabinets on that side. The lowers I think are going to require some floor tile to be busted out since we're changing things around, so I'm not sure when he'll do that but ds and I will most likely have to find somewhere to go due to the noise.

We got some other various things accomplished last week to do with the house so it's nice we have moved forward even if it's small steps.

We had a ton of rain all last week so it was really nice to be able to hit the beach the last 2 evenings. All the tropical systems this year have really taken a huge toll on our coastline though and the debris washed up on shore is just mindblowing.

Today is laundry day - 3 loads down, 1 to go.

That's about it from this homestead today.

Have a great day everyone!

**PrairieRose** · 10-17-2005, 03:47 PM

It's been a nice Monday on our homestead.

This morning I did a of lot cleaning in the bedrooms, cleaning from the ceiling down. I got one of those little "webster" thingamabobs and really like it. Mine is the dollar store version but it does a great job knocking down spider webs and dusting off the baseboards.

After the bedrooms, (I stripped our bed and washed it, put the sheets back on) I dustmopped the other floors and vac'd the area rugs while I had the vac. out. My house feels MIL ready yet once again....

(now if it would only stay that way)

Gripey and I had dinner and I had plans on working on that bedroom suit today but it's really hot here today so I'm not gonna suffer in the shop, where the heat multiplies. Maybe tomorrow.

I've done a bit of shopping for a few supplies at our local store, went to the p.o. while out and came home to do the last 2 of 4 loads of laundry in h.m. soap. I'll put away the laundry and cook dinner in just a bit then it's t.v. for the evening for both Gripey and me.

Gripey's not been feeling great so tomorrow he has an appt. for a physical. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that all is well and it's just age related aches and pains, although that's not fun either.

My back is much better although very stiff after running the vac and dust mop.

Kim, I wish I were closer, I'd gladly sit with your ds while you have your c/s. I hope you get that all worked out to where you have a wonderful sitter and your dh can be with you

I know how emotional an issue that has to be for you all.

**Mom23boys** · 10-17-2005, 06:05 PM

Rhonda, good to hear you received some rain!

Lisa, hope your DH is feeling better soon!

Emily, glad to hear the festival was a success!

Julie, will say a prayer for your dad.

CJ, sounds like you had a wonderful weekend.

Kim, I wish you lived closer too. I wouldn't mind watching your DS in the evening while you were in the hospital.

Today our class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. The children had a blast. They were able to pick out a pumpkin and decorate it. The weather was pleasant too.

**forestdale** · 10-17-2005, 07:25 PM

Thanks Michelle. It rained all last night too. I can't believe it.

Kim, I wish I lived closer too. I'd gladly look after your son while you gave birth. I might have to share him with Lisa though.

I hope you find someone for this important job.

Lisa, I hope Gripey is ok and starts feeling better soon.

CJ, I hope you have a great time at your red hat lunch.

Julie, I'm sending good thoughts for your father as he has his surgery.

Emily, ahh the sleep over. I have fond memories of those days. They went too fast. The harvest festival sounds like a fun event.

I'm gardening this morning and taking advantage of the moist cool soil our rain has delivered. I'm repotting and pruning but I also have a few plants to move around.

This afternoon I'll write, bake and do laundry.

**baxjul** · 10-17-2005, 08:37 PM

Hello all.

My father came thru the surgery great. My sister called a little while ago. He is in ICU tonight. Then to a regular room tomorrow.

DD got her first report card. It was very good. Here, they give you a copy of it to keep! How nice!

This Sat. we are going to Daytona for Biketoberfest, can't wait. I've been there before, dh hasn't. DH birthday is Sun., so that will be his present. I have a girl from work babysitting. It'll be nice to get out of the house.

Everyone have a lovely evening!

**forestdale** · 10-17-2005, 08:46 PM

Good news all around for you, Julie. I'm so pleased your father is recovering well.

**Strawberry** · 10-17-2005, 10:56 PM

Rhonda - I'm glad you got some rain. How was lunch with your ds?

Lisa - Hope your back continues to get better.

Emily - Glad your boys had fun at the Harvest festival.

Julie - Glad your dad's surgery went well. WTG to your dd on my report card.

CJ - Glad your family enjoyed the musical. Hope you had fun at your luncheon. By the way, I tried your bean soup recipe and it was a hit. Thanks!

Kim - Hope you can get your c/s date scheduled to your liking. If we all lived closer you would have plenty of "aunties" to look after your ds.

Michelle - Your pumpkin patch field trip sounded fun.

It's been a crazy day driving everyone around. There wasn't even time to eat lunch at home so I made a quick sandwich and ate in the van while driving dh around.

This afternoon I got a wonderful surprise. Cards from village friends. I was overwhelmed and cried as I read them. I am so fortunate to be part of such a caring community.

Tomorrow we should find out if we'll be getting any assistance.

Even though money is very low, dh took a new friend out for lunch. It was his birthday today and Friday will be one year since his wife past away. He was having a difficult day and I'm glad dh did this for him. What a reward I got when I picked dh up and saw the huge smile on this man's face.

**forestdale** · 10-17-2005, 11:16 PM

Tina, lunch was good, I love it when Shane comes home. He told me about his dream of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro next year.

We did have gluggy bread though. I wrote about it in the bread dough thread.

I'm pleased you got some cards.

You are a valued and wonderful member of this community and we all care for you.

**QuilterMom** · 10-18-2005, 09:45 AM

Good news about your dad, Julie!

Tina!

It would be lovely if all the aunties lived by me! The dr.'s office mgr. called late yesterday afternoon and it turns out she didn't get anything resolved at the meeting with the hospital yesterday morning. She did, however, continue to argue with them over the phone most of the afternoon and finally they agreed to let my c/s be on the date we originally picked. It will be later in the morning than a normal scheduled c/s though (normally you have to be there at 5:30am and the surgery happens at 7:30am - mine is scheduled for me to be there at 9am and surgery at 11am). That's a good thing though because poor ds won't have to be woken up so early (and me and dh as well!). The same person can still come and sit with ds that day during the surgery and ds can still stay at night where we had gotten set up last week. I am very irritated that the hospital has been such a pain in the rear about all this though! I just hope they don't change their minds yet again. Ugh!

Ds is working on his homeschool lessons and I want to get more piecing done on the window quilts today. I had been doing a lot on one of them and then stopped, but CJ's UFO thread in the quilting forum got me motivated again yesterday.

Dh got two more upper cabinets installed in the kitchen last night. I get to 'assist' and I about wrung his neck last night. He kept trying to put the one over the stove too low and didn't read the directions for the microhood properly and we ended up arguing back and forth over that forever, all the while I'm standing there having to hold up one side of the cabinet! He's a lucky man that I didn't wallop him a good one.

We have one more upper on that side of the kitchen to install tonight and then comes the fun part of starting on the lowers and busting out tile.

I'll be keeping an eye on tropical storm Wilma (forecasted to become a hurricane today). The latest path projections have it hitting southwest FL this weekend and coming across the state out into the Atlantic. One path brings it directly over us.

It's path is dependent upon so many things though so I'm staying tuned to as many news stations as possible.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

**homesteadmamma** · 10-18-2005, 10:13 AM

Good m orning everyone. It is raining here this morning although dh did go to work. I'm expecting to hear from him soon to pick him up. I needed the van because dd has music lessons today.

The luncheon was a huge success. I'm so glad a group of Red Hat mammas has started up here. No more travelling to the city. The B&B was beautiful - all Victorian (my favorite). The meal was delicious. It was just too funny though. I was picking up a friend. She had called 2 other ladies to come which I didn't know about. I left home and going down the main street of our small town, noticed "red hats". Here were these 3 older ladies (all over 65) standing on the side of the street, dressed in their finery waving their purple scarves trying to stop cars as they went by. I was laughing so hard when I picked them up I could hardly open the door. My friend said as she got in "no one else would stop, sure glad you did". What a hoot!!

Today I have to:

~take dd to music lessons
~do some quilting
~start making a list about Christmas
~clean the po
~put away some folded clothes

Tina, what a treasure you have in your dh. How thoughtful of him to think of others, even while he has not been well himself. I'm so glad you've gotten some cards, that is just so neat.

Kim, nice to hear you finally got things organized for your c/s. Praying it all stays as is. Can't wait to hear about that little one.
Hopefully Wilma won't touch land. I heard it's the last n ame on the list and that they will have to start all over again if there are more.

Rhonda, those boys of yours are really getting around.

Julie, good news about your dad.

Have a great Tues. everyone.